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Scammers

  Not going to add any sort of post requirement before accessing the classifieds and probably never will. Whilst this does leave users slightly more vulnerable to scammers the classifieds are the primary access point for new members (some of who eventually become frequent contributors to the remainder of the forum). I'll also add that the relative success of AFUK's classifieds is that it allows buyers to contact sellers far more easily than some similar platforms (which then translates into items selling more quickly). If a change was made to accessing the classifieds it would probably work for an extended period of time but there would be a drop-off in new listings on the classifieds in the medium to long term which would precipitate as less content overall on the forums. Facebook and Discord are not only popular because everybody is already on there (in many cases multiple times a day) but because you don't even have to think about doing any amount of legwork before contacting a potential buyer or seller. Closing the gap between forums and big services like this starts at having as little extra work for new users as is feasible.

The above is also why care has to be taken before adding new sign up requirements in order to help prevent spamming (I'm sure everyone is familiar with just how much of this we get). There is currently a cap on how much 'content' you can post/create before you reach a certain account age - this is intended to be one of a number of small things that frustrate people spamming and scamming at scale but it is a bit of an arms race with no solution that doesn't come at the cost of significantly lower new registrations.

Herrgh said:
We definitely need some sort of filter to stop immediate access to the classifieds. This could work.

Alternatively go the SomethingAwful route and charge money for Account Registration. A mere £2.50, for example, would go a long way towards heading off scamming types, and defray some of AFUK's operating costs. But that comes with the disadvantages of putting off genuine casual potential users and needing to set up some way to handle money/personal info. So I like @Enid_Puceflange's idea.
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Did consider a 'bond' at one point of a similarly small amount which would be refunded after a specific period of time but this comes with loads of real life liabilities. Also as above any non-refundable small contribution for buyers and sellers would probably be catastrophic for fresh sign ups I'm afraid.

Tackle said:
Very true, & regarding "buyer beware", I wonder how many buyers that get scammed, primarily on here as it's probably the busiest UK forum, are the types who just sign up for the classifieds access, without reading other threads, in particular the horror stories & warnings regarding scams & sending money ?.

One might argue that those are the people that bring it on themselves, & are technically the "enablers" that the scammers rely upon ?.
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I am likely going to add a new notification to make this more prominent to new members. As it stands there are two notifications that you receive as a new member and it's likely that adding a third won't help. There is of course the floating permanent notification at the top of the classifieds with a warning and some very basic guidelines. Any concise recommendations to add to this list of tips would be greatly appreciated.

Enid_Puceflange said:
All of the servers I am a member of have ceased the sales channels
 

https://discord.com/safety/dangerous-regulated-goods-policy-explainer
 

View attachment 134960
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I've asked for clarification on this but for now the forum does not notify of new classifieds on Discord as we're probably not allowed to even link to new listings under these new guidelines.

Cannonfodder said:
With VPNs being so common would country or region specific bans actually do anything?
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Although it's not exactly foolproof prevention of anybody who does a little bit of research on this (thankfully most scammers seem to be pretty thick) we do screen IPs (for anti-spam purposes more than anything) in order to catch VPNs etc. (to the degree that it is feasible to do so).

Jez_Armstrong said:
That's what PayPal goods and services is.... 

I don't know how many times I've seen posts from people saying they sent some random person money through friends and family or via bank transfer because the seller wanted to save on fees, those fees are there to protect you... Not them
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Agree wholeheartedly. This is the first recommendation in the list recommendations given at the top of the classifieds for a reason. Anybody looking to save a couple of quid on a transaction of hundreds of pounds with somebody they don't know is asking for trouble.

View attachment 135939

 
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There's some guy on YouTube who leaves fake packages on his doorstep for people to steal.  The boxes are spring loaded to fire glitter and fart spray when opened. We need to send this guy something similar 

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Cannonfodder said:
There's some guy on YouTube who leaves fake packages on his doorstep for people to steal.  The boxes are spring loaded to fire glitter and fart spray when opened. We need to send this guy something similar 
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Can it fire COVID at him? 

 
Probably. I think the bloke on YouTube sticks with glitter and fart spray to keep things legal 

 
Cannonfodder said:
There's some guy on YouTube who leaves fake packages on his doorstep for people to steal.  The boxes are spring loaded to fire glitter and fart spray when opened. We need to send this guy something similar 
Click to expand...
Mark Rober, he's a bloody legend.

 
Admin, this add just doesn't feel right.

My apologies to the seller if I'm mistaken.




 
ButcherBill said:
Admin, this add just doesn't feel right.

My apologies to the seller if I'm mistaken.
Click to expand...


I wouldn't have given the benefit of the doubt had I not seen they'd since posted this as well.





Without a note to verify the seller's identity, it's still suspect.

 
Galvatron said:
Without a note to verify the seller's identity, it's still suspect.
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Just something not quite right, reads like someone simply doesn't know anything about airsoft... might explain the two tone of course.

 
ButcherBill said:
Admin, this add just doesn't feel right.

My apologies to the seller if I'm mistaken.
Click to expand...


Galvatron said:
I wouldn't have given the benefit of the doubt had I not seen they'd since posted this as well.





Without a note to verify the seller's identity, it's still suspect.
Click to expand...


ButcherBill said:
Just something not quite right, reads like someone simply doesn't know anything about airsoft... might explain the two tone of course.
Click to expand...
I thought the same thing, the user name sounds like a "mum" kinda name, was half expecting an accompanying sob story as to why she's selling her sons/hubby's kit, but instead there's nothing ?

 
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